At a time when U.S. news organizations are shedding jobs at an alarming rate, the People’s Republic of China has been hiring a growing number of reporters from outside of China.

“Since July of this year, Xinhua’s English-language service– China’s official news service for English-language audiences — has hired several experienced Western journalists to serve as overseas correspondents,” according to a new report (pdf) from the DNI Open Source Center (OSC).

“Following Xinhua’s introduction in 2003 of bylines on items filed in English, OSC has observed that the number of non-Chinese correspondents employed by the news agency has grown to more than 80. Most of these new hires, however, have been non-Western reporters.”

The OSC report has not been approved for public release, but a copy was obtained by Secrecy News.  See “China — Xinhua’s Growing Ranks of ‘Foreign’ Correspondents,” Open Source Center, November 5, 2009.

Another new OSC report notes that state-owned China Central Television has “dropped a number of talk shows and pre-recorded news magazine programs in favor of a heavy focus on live newscasts and news commentaries.”  See “China — Revamped CCTV-News Channel Increases Live Casts, Commentary” (large pdf), November 5, 2009.